Quotes and Notes: Melbourne City FC 5-1 Wellington Phoenix

Following Melbourne City FC’s emphatic dismantling of the Wellington Phoenix on Wednesday night, we have a look at some of the key Quotes and Notes as the Club booked its place in the Quarter Finals of the Westfield FFA Cup 2015.

Quotes

Melbourne City FC coach John van’t Schip

Thoughts on the win…
“We are happy of course with the result and the way we got the result. The next round is achieved and it was important because we know that we want to have good games in the pre-season, and we also know that playing in the FFA Cup is a great opportunity to win a prize in a short period. We’re in the last eight now; it’s great and we get another competitive game.”

On the team’s dominant first-half performance…
“Wellington in the beginning were playing some good football I thought, but when we became a bit more aware we were aggressive in winning the ball and going forward we looked very dangerous.
“Then we started scoring the goals as well, so it was a good mix of everything with Harry [Novillo], Aaron Mooy, [Stefan] Zinni, Robi Koren, Bruno Fornaroli and in the second half Wadey Dekker getting onto the scoresheet. It was a good effort, good performance and there is still a lot that we want to improve, but for what we are working on we can take that with us and move forward.”

On Harry Novillo’s injury…
“He felt something, so we will have scans and see what will come out of that. Hopefully it is not something big because he is an important player for us. You saw in the beginning that he’s threatening, he’s linking up dangerously and has a great has a great finish – first on the crossbar and later on the goal – so we just have to wait.”

On Wade Dekker…
“If you get your opportunity, use it. Today he came in and did a good job for the team. But he is also a player who still has to improve; he’s young. But these are the moments that when the young players come in, they have to really take advantage of it. I think he showed this evening he is player that is getting closer and closer to becoming a very good member of the team.”

On potential Quarter Final opponents…
“It is always nice if teams out of Victoria go through and for us if we draw them it is not a far travel. But we will see what comes out of it, we are happy that we got through and it means that we get another competitive game. Every draw can be something to look forward to, so we will just wait and see what happens.”

Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick

On the gruelling schedule ahead of the match…
“We played on Sunday in New Plymouth and that was the whole squad, because it was New Zealand A vs Wellington Phoenix; and New Zealand A has eight of our players, so it was a very intense game. We bussed back four hours, had the day off on Monday, and flew over here on Tuesday and all the boys had to play again with a few injuries. We had five 19-year-olds on the field tonight, and it showed. I think it was fatigue and inexperience, but that is part of pre-season. I am not concerned by it in the slightest.”

On the performance of his youngsters...
“I saw a few things that I wanted to see from our youngsters who are amateur players; they are 19-year olds and some of them really stood up. I thought Andrew Blake did a good job and young talented [Tamupiwa] Dimairo was terrific at right-back when he came on. Joel Stevens did well up front, and if anything I think a couple of the senior players let us down a little bit, but I think fatigue played a major part in the game.

Notes

With the win, Melbourne City FC has reached the Quarter Finals of the FFA Cup for the first time in the competition's history.

City's formidable record at AAMI Park has also continued, with the Club extending its unbeaten home streak to 10 consecutive matches; a run established following a 2-1 defeat to Sydney FC last September.

It proved to be an excellent competitive debut for new signing Bruno Fornaroli, who scored his first ever Melbourne City FC goal with a 32nd minute penalty.

After making his debut against Edgeworth Eagles in the Round of 32, young striker Wade Dekker netted his first competitive goal for City, turning home Fornaroli's cut-back in the 50th minute.

Midfielder Aaron Mooy is currently leading the FFA Cup goal-scoring charts, extending his tally to three with an 18th minute penalty.

The match turned out to be a busy affair for referee Lucien Laverdure, who awarded a staggering four penalties on the night - giving two spot kicks each to both teams.

Robi Koren's 40th minute goal was the Slovenian's first strike since scoring a hat-trick in the 5-2 win over Newcastle Jets last Hyundai A-League season.